GDT: Emergency Game Day Thread! Game 3 of round 2 vs the Blues. Series tied 1-1. 6:00PM MST

[Pierce Hawthorne]

Avs have a chance to go up 3-1 in the series going back to Denver.... A win in game 4 would be absolutely massive and guarantee them two opportunities to win the series on home ice.

If anything they need to double down on playing the game the way they play with speed and skill and not get involved in any "retribution" antics.

If the Blues want to start running around chasing hits and trying to be physical because of an incidental play, let them. They will take penalties, they will take themselves out of plays trying to lay hits(Especially since they aren't normally a particularly physical team anyway, they play somewhat like us) and it will actually create a lot more open ice for the Avs to take advantage of.


The Avs started to dictate the flow of the game again in game 3 from about the 2nd period onward. Even in the 3rd period with the Blues pressing for the tying goal the Avs did a wonderful job limiting chances and pushing for the 2 goal lead again early on... Just come out with high energy and focus on getting the Win, nothing else.

 

[cinchronicity]

MacDermid can try to forecheck like a demon, but let's be honest, he's not going to catch anyone.

Avs don't have time to play the retaliation game. That's the easiest way to lose focus and lose the series. We play them 4 times next regular season and we can give a nice greeting to Barbashev then.

If you saw a consistent pattern throughout the game of Blues taking liberties and affecting our confidence with the puck, then maybe I could see MacDermid drawing in. But as it stands, I highly doubt we will see MacDermid in Game 4 except maybe as bodyguard for post game interviews.

I don't disagree with any of this. However, as Grandma said, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." Right now, there is a spot open on defense ( I'd rather see a healthy Murray next to Manson, but...) plus a 4th line spot replacing Cogs. To paraphrase Bretzky, you miss 100% of the face punches thrown when you are eating nachos upstairs. MacDermid is not remarkable, but neither are Sturm or Cogliano. LOC and Helm do better on the chip and chase than MacDermid.

I agree with the concept of not allowing the Blues to distract the Avs from their game. But what if they feel empowered, and the next Girard is Byram, or Makar, or Mac? How does one fix Makar being out for the season in the game AFTER he is injured. Plus, it is obvious that they are going to try to line Kadri up. Manson stepped in once. But having MacD, Manson, Landy and EJ to adjudicate, our stars might be in a superior position to shine.

 

[EdAVSfan]

Double

 

[Foppa2118]

Meh, that literally much to do about nothing, IMO. Neither one is yelling at the other. They are merely having a discussion about the F/O, which you can tell Mack wasn't happy about taking.

To me it's not, because it shows where Nate's head is, and it's nowhere near screwed on correct right now. When he gets this frustrated, he doesn't usually just snap out of it. It takes a while for him to get back to normal.

When he had that first bench scene with Bednar he played like absolute crap for an extended period of time after. He gets in his own head almost as bad as Duchene used to do.

I don't disagree with your point about shutting up and getting the job done. That said, isn't Mac right? A right hander will naturally pull that puck back toward the goalie, while a left hander would normally pull that toward the corner. I'd rather have the latter, personally.

The way I view it is, who cares if your coach put you out there. He shouldn't be losing the faceoff that clean to a guy who's not on his strong side anyway. Up until a few years ago, most centers had to take faceoffs on both sides all game.

And if we really think about what he was upset with, it's that his coach shouldn't have put him out there for a faceoff, because he thinks he sucks at faceoffs. That's a weird thing to get upset about. If you're not a PKer, and your coach puts you out on the PK and you screw up and they score, are you gonna go back to the bench and blame your coach for putting you out there?

Nate spends way too much time getting upset at teammates and coaches over mistakes. Especially when he's made a ton of mistakes himself this series defensively and with the puck. And especially when his coach's mistake was to trust him to take the face-off.

And it just shows where his head is at. He's externalizing all his problems, which means he's not thinking about how he needs to be better. He's blaming others. And the results over the years and so far this series show when he's in this mindset it results in poor play. He needs to focus on himself and how he can be better. That's the only way he's gonna snap out of this.

 

[SirLoinOfCloth]

I don't know if I expect any more physicality from the blues at all. The time for physically punishing revenge would have been in game 3, there was absolutely zero push back from either team after the injuries. I think all the talk of revenge is buoyed by bloodlusting fans and idiotic media members. Even in the immediate aftermath no one made Kadri pay. No one roughed him up. This blues team is not the blues of old, I don't think they have much more physicality to bring.

 

[Azrael89]

I wonder if Bettman sits in on tomorrow’s game? Lol

 

[John Mandalorian]

I wonder if Bettman sits in on tomorrow’s game? Lol

It will appear that he's looking in on Kadri. And after the threats Kadri's received, it will have a bad look.

 

[Azrael89]

It will appear that he's looking in on Kadri. And after the threats Kadri's received, it will have a bad look.

I’m just remembering in the past him or Bill Daley would show up to games that had the potential to be a powder keg.

 

[John Mandalorian]

I’m just remembering in the past him or Bill Daley would show up to games that had the potential to be a powder keg.

Most players hide behind their union. For some reason certain players from certain teams get targeted by the league office more than others. Barbashev has quite a portfolio of dirty/illegal hits in the playoffs and without possibly receiving as much as a penalty.

 

[Foppa2118]

I wonder if Bettman sits in on tomorrow’s game? Lol

If he takes his role seriously he absolutely should and he should make his presence known as a deterrent. Emotions have been ramped up too high. Both from the Blues team and the St Louis community.

 

[Azrael89]

If he takes his role seriously he absolutely should and he should make his presence known as a deterrent. Emotions have been ramped up too high. Both from the Blues team and the St Louis community.

It’s for sure spun out of control. Binnington was injured on a hockey play. It’s tough luck but not at all the type of play that should have media putting targets on a guys head. It’s the Blues defenseman who injured Binners leg for craps sake.

 

[Bront]

You guys are making too big of a deal of this. MacKinnon knows that faceoffs are not his strong suit. He knows that and his coach SHOULD know that. So if he's going out there and losing to one of the best faceoff guys in the league and it leads to a goal, it's going to piss him off and RIGHTFULLY SO.

Those saying he needs to stop bitchin' and get better on faceoffs - really? The guys is 'pretty good' already at a lot of things but let's put this CLEAR coaching mistake on him? It's the playoffs and mistakes are going to be magnified. That's just the way it is. All in all, this is a non-story and it's going to blow over. Nate's an emotional guy and Bednar is a robot - so nothing will come of this.

I’m not sure you read a single word of my post before responding to it.

 

[Bill Peckerskull]

If he takes his role seriously he absolutely should and he should make his presence known as a deterrent. Emotions have been ramped up too high. Both from the Blues team and the St Louis community.

If the BLose organization had any integrity, they'd release a statement condemning the actions many of their fans are taking towards Kadri, and asking for cooler heads to prevail. They they don't, and they won't.

 

[forsbergavs32]

Power restored after about 37 hours. I'll watch the game now and if needed start a new thread for my comments.

Just have your own GDT in here like another poster (missionavs I think) did awhile back

 

[Bill Peckerskull]

Just have your own GDT in here like another poster (missionavs I think) did awhile back

And that was glorious

 

[Bender]

I’m not sure you read a single word of my post before responding to it.

Probly not. I just wanted to say that it's a non-story to whoever is trying to make a big deal of this.

Mack and Bednar know each other well enough now that they're going to put this behind them quickly and focus on what's important.

 

[Spleenless Wonder21]

Shoot him into the sun.

He’d miss wide.

 

[wayninja]

Just have your own GDT in here like another poster (missionavs I think) did awhile back

 

[Muffin]

Hopefully all this bullshit their loser fans are doing will just fire the team up more.

 

[Foppa2118]

If the BLose organization had any integrity, they'd release a statement condemning the actions many of their fans are taking towards Kadri, and asking for cooler heads to prevail. They they don't, and they won't.

And this also should fall under the purview of the commissioner. He should be telling the Blues organization they should put out a statement. It doesn't necessarily have to condemn their fans but some sort of statement saying they don't condone violence or racially motivated violence.

There's really no reason for them not to. It won't negatively affect them or their team in any way and that should be their public stance anyway. Especially with the racially motivated shootings recently.

 

[Bender]

During latter part of the regular season he did quite well as 4 LW and caught a number of people, especially D-men, on the forecheck. Having MacD in the lineup is not "playing the retaliation game," it is being prepared for a bLose team whose coach went beyond professionalism in a press conference regarding Naz.

Having a reserve Dman dressed in case one of ours goes down is a bonus.

I don't know about that part. I think he's just working the media the same way deboer did last year. "Look, look at what that monster did to my boy...." Who knows it will probably work.

Meanwhile, we have Bednar saying the Girard injury was an unfortunate result of a clean hit. He's taken the high road before and it hasn't paid off - we'll see how it goes.

I wonder what Berube would have said if Logan O'Connor throws the exact same hit on Scott Perunavich with the exact same result?? Somehow, I doubt his answer would match Bednars.

 

[Spleenless Wonder21]

Im surprised I didn’t get one for calling blues fans delusional for singing to their hearts content about wanting to go back to West Virginia and the blue ridge mountains.

I sang along, too….

 

[John Mandalorian]

I don't know about that part. I think he's just working the media the same way deboer did last year. "Look, look at what that monster did to my boy...." Who knows it will probably work.

Meanwhile, we have Bednar saying the Girard injury was an unfortunate result of a clean hit. He's taken the high road before and it hasn't paid off - we'll see how it goes.

I wonder what Berube would have said if Logan O'Connor throws the exact same hit on Scott Perunavich with the exact same result?? Somehow, I doubt his answer would match Bednars.

This can backfire. Naz has suddenly become the bigger victim in all of this. It's different from last year.

 

[The Kingslayer]

Or the referees call the interference penalty on Faulk like they should had.

Missed calls happen. He has to glove that wrist shot and not punt the puck into the slot with a minute left in a period. That cant happen.

 

[Foppa2118]

Berube is a child and is an elite whiner. This is how a grown man answers a question.

So glad Bednar said this too. I've been sayin this for a while now. Reputation or being a repeat offender should have no impact whatsoever on whether a player gets suspended or not. It's either a supsendable play or not.

Being a repeat offender should only matter in terms of the number of games.